


Promise

by kazeshinobi



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, pre-localization names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:09:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4897597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazeshinobi/pseuds/kazeshinobi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Leo thinks he's untouchable, unapproachable and unloved.</p><p>He's wrong about all three.</p><p>But gods, he wishes he wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promise

Leo was a fool.

 What special brand of idiot was he, to cling so desperately onto a childhood promise? He was becoming a man, a royal man no less! He studied diligently in all fields of research, impressing noble guests with his vast knowledge. His mastery of dark magic inspired both awe and fear in his subjects. His willowy shoulders were still frustratingly slim, but his body was still quite physically strong underneath. He was not a young man of whimsy who was still stuck in his youth.

And yet…

She was an exception. Gods, she always had been. That bright-eyed, energetic sister of his who could make everyone fall in love with her in just a few seconds. He had always, ALWAYS been jealous of her charm. Xander, Camilla and Elise had all made it clear many times over the years who their favourite sibling was. She was the only one who could make Xander laugh freely. She was spoiled and doted on by Camilla. She was Elise’s favorite playmate by far.

When he was younger, he would have given anything to have even an ounce of the attention that was showered upon her. But, that wasn’t his role, after all.

It was hopeless, either way. He couldn’t help loving her either.

With Xander, he felt like chasing an unattainable object. With Camilla, he always felt like she would rather be spending time with her beloved sister. And Elise was far too sensitive for his sarcastic, dry nature; he unintentionally made her cry many times due to his harsh remarks.

Kamui paid attention to him. Kamui included him in things. Kamui never treated him like the dark sheep he was.

Kamui understood he was _lonely._

It was that loneliness, that pathetic ache deep in his heart that had started the whole conversation in the first place.

\----------

_Camilla, fearing that the young girl would become bored alone in her tower, had bought almost twenty new books, the first pages all with a lovingly handwritten dedication to her younger sister. He watched Kamui squeal and accept the gifts happily while he burned up with envy. He was the best reader in the house, yet SHE got all those lovely, new books?!  He sulked and sat on the rug in the corner, crossing his arms with his back to his sisters._

_“Unfortunately, I have business with my retainers today, my precious Kamui. I have to leave a little early… please forgive your big sister”._

_“That’s okay! I still have Leo, he can help me read. Goodbye, big sis!”_

_“Goodbye. Next time, I promise to come early to spend more time with my cute sister~”_

_And then, to Leo;_

_“Why don’t you help your sister read her new books?”_

_Camilla smiled at the girl once more before exiting the room. Leo snorted, trying to mask his hurt. He didn’t get a smile OR a goodbye._

_“Hey Leo, does this one look good?” Kamui asked, the younger boy hearing footsteps on the stone behind him._

_She passed him a handsome, sleek tome with gold lettering on the front._

_“…It’s a storybook about an adventurer” he responded, flicking through the first few pages of the novel._

_The delicate, fine pages and the smell of a new book made him cheer up a little. Beckoning his sister to sit down next to him, he opened the tome to the first chapter, planning to get lost in the novel_

_‘Planning’ being the key word here, as Kamui asked every 5 seconds which words meant what, how to pronounce all the names of the characters and forgot details of the plot as they went on. Leo felt a headache brewing as Kamui painstakingly sounded out every word she didn’t know in the text._

_“Meta-metamorf-metamorfas-“_

_“It’s METAMORPHOSIS! Gods, why did she even give these to you if you can’t read properly?” Leo snapped at the girl, rubbing his temples._

_He regretted it as soon as he saw the hurt puppy-dog eyes his sister was directing towards him._

_“How am I going to learn if I don’t sound them out?!” Kamui huffed, gloomy expression on her face._

_“Y-you’re right… you’re doing a fine job” Leo encouraged, feeling more and more like Pegasus dung at Kamui’s crestfallen expression._

_“Heh…you must think I’m pretty stupid for a big sister, when you’re way more talented than me…” Kamui muttered, turning the page morosely._

_Leo stared at her, biting his lip._

_“Well… I feel like I’d rather be like you, sometimes…”_

_\----------_

He shook his head at the old memory, fastening his black gauntlets onto his arms.

It was amazing how little some things had changed since then. Their back-and-forth banter, sharing a love of books and the fact that he could never say no to the puppy dog face she used to pull on him.

Still, some things had been changed for the better. They had been so immature back then!  And he had been such a brat.

Then again, Leo had always kind of liked it. As he became older and more feared by the general public he found himself valuing his carefree time with Kamui. She didn’t want to talk of war and soldiers like Xander, but she wasn’t a total naïve soul like Elise. They just existed in their little bubble of fantasy books and dry humor, allowing themselves to be whisked away from the depressing backdrop of Nohr.  If he was being honest with himself, they were some of the happiest days of his life. He wasn’t a prince when he was sharing ribald jokes or reading a particularly funny line of a book out loud to her. He was just Leo.

And she wasn’t a princess.

Well, not of Nohr.

He smirked, ignoring the sting of agony in his chest.

All good things come to an end, don’t they?

It was time for battle. He headed towards the stables, hoping his favorite steed was in fine condition today. He was going to be facing quite a formidable opponent.

\------------

_“C’mon, Leo! Let me in!”_

_He rolled his eyes, turning the page of the book he was currently rereading. Figures Kamui would want to stick her nose in where it didn’t belong._

**_Bang! Bang!_ **

_He sighed._

**_Bang! Bang!_ **

_“Sister, could you stop assaulting my innocent door?”_

_“Only if you tell me what’s wrong!”_

_Gods damn it._

_“The only thing that’s wrong around here is you. Leave me alone!”_

_“Then why did I see you choking back tears in the library?”_

_Crap. She saw._

_She saw him being weak._

_“…It was your imagination!”_

_“LEO!”_

_Gods DAMN it._

_“You’re a pest, you know that?!” he groaned, getting up from his comfy cocoon of blankets to open the door to his room._

_He turned the knob and opened just as Kamui went to knock again, causing her to overbalance and fall face first onto the floor. He snickered, stifling his laughs as Kamui cursed, picking herself up off the floor._

_“Very funny” she huffed, coming to sit on the bed with crossed arms._

_“Have a nice trip, sister?” he teased, receiving a punch on the arm in response._

_“Maybe if you had let me in earlier…” she grumbled, rubbing her elbow where a small bruise was forming from hitting the ground._

_There was a short silence as both pondered on what to say._

_“Leo, you can tell me your problems, you know that? And I won’t judge you for not being prince-like or anything. I just want you to trust me…”_

_“I do trust you, sister. I-I…”_

_Leo paused._

_He took in a deep breath._

_Suddenly, a barrage of words spilled out of his mouth. His fears for the future, how he could never compete with Xander, how terrified he was of not amounting to the standards of Nohrian royalty, how easily he could kill people these days without feeling guilty…_

_He spoke on and on, never pausing for a second as every internal pain, every hidden worry seemed to jump out of his mouth. Kamui took his hand halfway through, squeezing it gently whenever he paused to take a breather. Eventually, he seemed to run out of anything left to say and fell silent._

_He felt tired._

_“I just…I just don’t know what’s in my future. To be called a genius now means I have to live up to these standards forever. It’s terrifying.”_

_His voice cracked pathetically on the last word, but Kamui didn’t seem to notice with the way she was staring at him intently._

_She reached forward slowly and took his hand in both of hers, running her thumb over his knuckles._

_“I don’t know either… I don’t know what will happen to us. But Leo… I promise you this.”_

_“Whenever Father, or your battle duties, or being royalty becomes too much, I’ll be right behind you, taking your hand.”_

_\-------------------------------------_

“The enemy are approaching south, Master Leo. What course of action should we take?”

“Let us meet them head on.”

\-------

_“Yes, I’m fighting on the side of Hoshido. That’s what I’ve decided.”_

\-------

A familiar face stared up at him on his mount, twisted in agony and shock.

“Leo, please! I don’t want to fight you…”

Leo sneered, ruby eyes sparking with hatred.

The nerve. The gods damned NERVE of this wretch.

“YOU don’t want to fight ME? You betrayed Nohr!”

_~~“You betrayed me!”~~ _

“You’ve even brought your new family with you to battle me!”

_~~“You abandoned me just like everyone else!”~~ _

“I’ve always hated you!”

_~~“I love you.”~~ _

“I will kill you here and now, traitor!”

_~~“Kill me. Gods, just kill me.”~~ _

“Leo, we don’t need to do this! If you would just step aside, we promise not to hurt you or your men-“

Leo’s derisive, maniacal laughter echoed through the courtyard.

Promise. 

Gods, he was a fool.

He summoned black magic from Brunhilde, grinning savagely as his hand tingled with power. He was numb. Everything was going numb.

He was drowning in the dark and it felt so _good._

He didn’t love her. He couldn’t love her.

He…

…

He couldn’t do it.

He kept his smirk plastered on, shouting out a few more insults before starting the fight.

He directed his horse to the back of the courtyard, observing the mayhem before him in detachment as Hoshidans and Nohrians clashed blades. He watched indifferently as a Nohrian soldier fell in front of him, gurgles cut short as he bled out onto the stone below him.

He didn’t care.

He’d be dead soon, anyway.

She had consumed all of him, every last inch of his being.

She might as well take his head straight off, too.

  


**Author's Note:**

> A/N This, my friends, was the winner of a poll I had held to determine what pairing I’d been writing next! I know some of you are going to be mad that it took so long, haha. To be honest, I actually had something really fluffy initially, but Leo felt so OOC and the plot ended up going nowhere. So, I completely deleted the whole thing!
> 
> Instead, this angsty mess came out instead. It’s a bit of an alternate take on the confrontation with Leo on the Hoshido Route. I hope you guys enjoyed it, I’m not too familiar with Leo x F!Kamui but I tried my best.  
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
